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by walrus0110 hours ago |
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upvoteby lacunary10 hours ago|
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My dad added parental controls to our PC sometime around 1997. It also had Eudora installed, which my dad used for email. Poking around, I found the ini file that had the ciphertext of the password for the email server. On a whim, I made another account in Eudora and put the ciphertext in as my password. In the ini, the plaintext of the password came out; I guess Eudora used some symmetric rot16 or xor like cipher! The same password worked to unlock parental controls, which had taken me just about a week to circumvent.
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upvoteby rescbr9 hours ago|
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Agreed. I was a middle-schooler in the 2000's, had my own PC in my own bedroom, we had broadband access and I, of course, was exposed to porn while I was trying to download cracks and keygens on Astalavista and other such sites. Mislabelled files on eMule too. Links to porn also were readily shared on IRC channels. But yeah, I can't say it had a damaging effect on me.

It was a mix of being afraid of getting a virus from a porn site, knowing that porn wasn't for my age, and late-night FTA TV airing softcore anyways.

My parents told me to be responsible and kind of explained the dangers of the world the best way they could, and it was expected that I'd be grounded and lose computer access if they found me on a porn site. I preferred playing games. I definitely encountered some dark places on the clearnet (and on the darknet as well) and promptly GTFO.

At the school's computer lab they had plenty of content control which I had the most fun trying to bypass them. For what reason? Just so I could.

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upvoteby inigyou2 hours ago|
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You see how that isn't nearly as bad as the current state of society though.
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upvoteby ranger_danger9 hours ago|
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As usual it seems education is the only long-term solution. Forcibly keeping people out just makes them want it more.
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upvoteby Forgeties7910 hours ago|
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I have a feeling we had a similar experience growing up. I generally agree, but also, we got QAnon/Alex Jones and such which have quite directly screwed up my country. So I don’t know, my opinion is often contradictory and fluid. I don’t know where I stand anymore. I believe in an “open internet,” but also, there’s people like Andrew Tate who have ruined the minds of people I care about.

We can debate if these systems and people existed before (they did), but the reach and scale is different now. My most controversial opinion these days is that not everyone should be allowed to upload to YouTube if it’s public facing. We need basic screening and filtering.

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upvoteby walrus0110 hours ago|
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One personal observation, the early commercial internet as it was transitioning from universities/research labs/certain high-tech firms into a mass market thing with millions of users, it had its share of nutjobs and crazy as well. But it was boutique, hand crafted , personal level crazy and it was for the most part disregarded because none of the whackjobs could collect a sufficient following or megaphone to spread their message.

For instance in about 1994 I remember coming across a set of textfiles that were some lengthy manifesto about how the US government had supposedly manufactured AIDS in a lab somewhere. But it never got any traction.

Now we have the unfortunate venn diagram overlap between something like a Tate and a major social media platform, and he can get his message out to millions of angry, horny, unemployed young men...

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upvoteby esseph10 hours ago|
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> For instance in about 1994 I remember coming across a set of textfiles that were some lengthy manifesto about how the US government had supposedly manufactured AIDS in a lab somewhere. But it never got any traction.

There was a BBS in my area that ran on a small bank of 14.4 USR modems that had a gold mine of content like that. It was such a fun time.

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upvoteby matheusmoreira6 hours ago|
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> We need basic screening and filtering.

Based on whose values and criteria? Yours?

Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

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upvoteby inigyou2 hours ago|
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I am sick and tired of the argument that porn shouldn't be kept from kids because what if someone thinks it's healthy for kids to watch porn (and for all I know it might be, since I haven't sent the scientific evidence).

If some parent thinks that's healthy they can just enter the child's age as 18.

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upvoteby ThrowawayR28 hours ago|
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> "...not everyone should be allowed to upload to YouTube if it’s public facing..."

You still fantasize about building mechanisms for restricting information as if the very people you oppose won't use it on you when they get into power; no, as if the very people you oppose aren't _currently_ ascendant or even in office and would delightedly use it against you right this moment. Madness.

When you build a high tech muzzle, remember that it will fit onto your head just as well as it fits those you built it for.

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upvoteby antonvs7 hours ago|
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> controversial

Is that how they’re spelling the r-word now.

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upvoteby bethekidyouwant9 hours ago|
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In which decade did “the kids” in your country have “good ideas”
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